Study: Condom-style catheter the way to go

July 18, 2006|By New York Times News Service

A new study will find a warm welcome from any man who has ever had to have a urinary catheter. Doctors, the researchers say, should give serious consideration to using an external condom-style device instead of the traditional one that is inserted into the urethra.

Writing in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the researchers said the external condoms appeared to cause fewer infections and were more comfortable for patients. The study was led by Dr. Sanjay Saint of the University of Michigan Medical School, who began the work at the University of Washington.

The researchers sought volunteers who would agree to be randomly given either standard or condomlike catheters. The researchers monitored infection rates for more than three years and surveyed the patients about their comfort.

All of the patients were men 40 and older.

While patients in both groups developed infections, those with the standard catheters were much more likely to do so, the study said.

But, the researchers said, the standard catheter is preferred in certain situations: when the urinary tract is obstructed or when doctors need to monitor urine output, for example.